Cult films are a different breed unto themselves. Sometimes
they can be artistic films, sometimes truly horrible films and other times
movies that are enough of both of those items as to be something different.
Such is the case with THE LAST DRAGON. Released in 1985 the movie did fair at
the box office but nothing outstanding. And yet it has a certain charm to it, a
fun feel and has drawn the interest of fans for all of those 30 years.
Two stories mingle into one in the film. The main story
takes place in New York City and involves Leroy Green (Tiamak), a young martial
arts student who has reached the pinnacle he can with his current teacher. That
master tells him that to achieve the status of the last dragon he must go on a
quest and presents him with a medallion and a name, Sum Dum Goy. Leroy sets out
to find his new master and to achieve “the glow”, the highest achievement one
can attain.
At the same time pop star Laura Charles (Vanity) is hosting
a musical show called Seventh Heaven where she features new music videos. Kids
dance to the music on stage and she sings on occasion. Arcade game hotshot
Eddie Arkadian (Christopher Murney) is dead set on his talentless girlfriend
Angela’s (Faith Prince) video showing there and is willing to do anything to make
it happen, including abducting Laura. Of course the paths these two stories on
cross when Leroy prevents the kidnapping of Laura.
An interest sparks between the two with the flirtatious
Laura offering all smiles and Leroy fumbling along not having a clue how to
behave. His life has been spent in dojos. Dealing with women is something he
has no clue how to handle. And yet having caught the eye of the attractive
Laura has come easily enough to him.
The back and forth between the two stories moves on as Arkadian
finally does kidnap Laura. Leroy comes to her rescue taking out Arkadian’s men
with ease but incurring his wrath at the same time. Arkadian sets out to hire
the most vicious thugs he can round up, all with the intent of taking out
Leroy. Among those he hires is Sho’nuff (Julius Carry), the self-proclaimed
“Shogun of Harlem”. Sho’nuff has been doing his best to lure Leroy into a fight
to determine who is truly the master martial artist in the neighborhood but
Leroy hasn’t risen to the bait. With Laura’s life on the line, he finally must
face his fears, fight Sho’nuff and find “the glow”.
The movie plays out like most martial arts movies of the
time did, with a nice mix of kung fu combat, romance, comedy and story to make
it work. To make it different the movie also tosses in 80’s music, music videos
and Soul Train style dance moves. While it may sound like an odd combination it
completely works. Perhaps that’s due to the producer of the film, Berry Gordy.
Yes THE Berry Gordy of Motown fame. This was his first attempt at a film and it
succeeds.
The movie would be easy to dismiss as a pop culture salute
with camp influences but the actors involved all play their roles as seriously
as possible. That adds to the humor that is seen on screen and trust me, there
is plenty to laugh about in this film but not in a bad way. A whole slew of
films came out during the eighties that celebrated pop culture of the time,
movies like BREAKIN’ or ROLLER BOOGIE, and all have enough charm and fun to
them to make them fan favorites. At the same time today’s crowds find them
funny and a throwback to those days and have turned most of them into the cult
films that at one time drew in large crowds to midnight movies. Now they gather
people together to join around the big screen at home smiling through them all.
The extras in this one are slim but there is a nice
documentary on the making of the film. It also talks to a fan who brought about
a 30th anniversary screening of the film that had fans showing up
dressed as the characters and quoting lines from the film. It would have been
nice to include footage of that but even hearing about it can bring about a
sense of joy this film holds for some.
There may be
blockbusters being released this week but for my money this is the one to seek
out. If it’s not available for rent then perhaps you might want to pick up a
copy. I know I’ll be adding this one to the shelf to take out from time to
time. For me it was that much fun.
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